Another Scarf in Under 10 Minutes!

I'm so addicted to scarves right now.  

And not even the ones that keep your neck warm in the cold.

It's become my fashion accesory of choice.

My favorite are the ones I can whip out in a matter of minutes.

This time, it looks like you spent hours crocheting or knitting. 

Nope.  About 10 minutes.

Probably less once you understand the process.

All you need are your hands.

Yep. No tools required!

Intrigued?

You should be.

This project is so easy, even non-crafty types can do it.

I promise!

Ready to be addicted to making scarves?

This project was so easy, I wanted to make several at one time.

And it's all thanks to my Mom!  She is the one that taught me, and now

I want to share with you.

Thanks Mom!

Yarn Scarf

First you need 2 skeins of super loopy big yarn.

Traditional yarn won't cut it.

I scored these for $3 each skein at Michaels.

Unravel each skein.  Lay it out loosely so it doesn't get tangled.

Find the ends and put them together.

Keep the two strands together as you work your way to the middle of the skein of yarn.

Put the 2 strands together and tie a simple knot leaving a large loop at the end.

Now reach through the loop and grab the 4 strands of yarn.  Pull them through the loop.

Reach through the loop you just created and pull the 4 strands through.

Now reach through the new loop and pull the 4 strands through.

Repeat until you finish the whole length of yarn.  

I left the loops loose and didn't tighten them down too tight.

It will keep the scarf light and fluffy.

Tuck the ends in by looping them around and pulling tight to secure.

And you're done.

I made mine while one batch of my Cowboy Cookies baked and had time to spare.

Now let me show you how to wear it.

Take the scarf and fold it in half like shown.

Take one strand and put it through the loop.

Take the other strand and put it through the loop from the under side.

It's kind of weaving them in place.  

I love the way it looks!

A fabulous scarf that everyone will think you either bought or took hours to make!

And only you and I have to know your secret!

You'll get lots of compliments on it!

You're welcome! ;)

Preserve Some Grapefruit Goodness

Today let's save some Grapefruit Juice.  I love this citrus fruit with a little sugar, and my husband loves the juice straight.  No sugar.  While I can't do that, I'm falling more in love with the juice.  It's tangy and a little sweet (with the sugar) and super good for you.  With all the flu and sickness going around right now, who couldn't do with a little boost of Vitamin C right? 

My mother in law has a tree that is loaded with fruit and since no one else in the family wants some, why I'll never know, I filled a few large grocery bags to bring home and preserve.  

Plus we've been eating it every day for breakfast.  Can't get enough of it! 

It's super easy to bottle.  You just need to juice the fruit.

I peeled my grapefruit like oranges, then ran them through my Breville Juicer.

You can find them on my sidebar.

I bought this originally to process some grapes a few years ago.  Then recently we watched

Hungry for Change.  The movie is Fat Sick and Nearly Dead.  Definitely a must see.  

It was kinda cool that my Breville was the same juicer Joe uses.

While I'm not quite ready to do a full juice diet, this juicer is fabulous!

Now that your grapefruit is all juiced, prepare lids and jars.

Fill jars with juice.  You can do straight juice, or add sugar at this point. 

 I added 1/4 cup sugar to each jar.  

Add more or less according to taste.  

I would probably go light, you can add more when you open the jar to use the juice later.

Process jars in a steam or boiling water canner for 15 minutes.

Lift lid away from you and place jars on wire rack to cool.

Let sit for 24 hours.

Lable and add to your pantry.

Easy. Done.

Next week I'm doing scarves and Valentines stuff.

Please come join me!

Sweet Canned Sweet Potatoes

Sweet.  I'm hearing Crush from Finding Nemo in my head as I type that.
Sweet...  Totally.

Today it's Sweet Potatoes.
These lovely, super good for you little roots need to find their place in my food storage.
I got a bunch of them at Market on the Move this week and I just had to save their yummy goodness.

I didn't really take pictures of the skinning and cubing process.  It's pretty self explanitory.
So let's get this done.  But be prepared it takes a while to process these beauties.  Plan on about 4 hours.
Of course you're not working the whole time, the pressure cooker is doing most of the work,
but you can't leave it alone either.  So plan some other activity you can do while the Sweet Potatoes are cooking.
Like Pinterest or Facebook.  I know you probably will anyway. ;)

Ok.  Back to business.

Peel and cube sweet potatoes and fill prepared jars.  Pack down leaving 1 inch headspace.

Make a light syrup.  The Ball book says 2 1/4 cups sugar to 5 1/4 cups water.  I used my 2 quart pitcher and added 4 cups sugar the water that nearly filled the pitcher.  Stir to dissolve the sugar.

Pour over cubed sweet potatoes to fill jar.

I added 1/4 tsp cinnamon to one batch of sweet potatoes.
I usually add it to them anyway and thought I'd add it in advance.

 Prepare lids and rings in hot water.

Attach lids and rings.
Place in pressure canner.
Make sure water covers the tops of the jars.
Place lid on and process at 10 lbs of pressure for 90 minutes.
Remove from heat by lifting canner.
Don't slide it on your smooth top stove as it may damage it.
Let pressure drop naturally.
Remove lid facing away from you.
Place jars on a wire rack to cool.
Let sit 24 hours.
Lable and add to your pantry.

One more batch of Beautiful Sweet Potatoes in my pantry done!

Come back tomorrow.  It's going to be Grapefruit Juice.

Then back to crafting with scarves next week. 

Homemade Vegetable Stock

It's Day 2 of my canning and sharing posts.  This time I wanted to make some vegetable stock.  

I came home with the tomatoes and peppers from Market on the Move.  

This recipe is amazing and I will definitely be making it more often.  

What's better than your own stock when you know exactly what is in it?  

And since I tried it in my favorite Artisan Bread, I'm definitely going to run out quick.  

More on that at the end of the post.

I have been pondering what the best approach would be to my food storage.  

Freeze dried and Dehydrated is sure the rage right now.  

And while I'm not discounting it at all, I live in Arizona. 

 What's the big deal with that you might ask?  

Well water is a precious comodity here.  

If you live in a place where that's not the case, this philosophy might not apply to you.  

But for us desert dwellers, water is all to precious.  

We are encouraged to store water, and I am doing that. 

But if water becomes scarce, 

I think I would rather use my precious water for 

drinking and washing, rather than reconstituting my food.  

This is why I bottle so much of what I store.  

The liquid is already there and I don't have to dip into my reserves to be able to eat what I've stored.  

Make sense?  Well maybe just to me.  But lets get to making some stock.

Vegetable Stock

Gather your vegetables.  You will need the following:

1 pound of carrots, washed and cut into 1 inch pieces

6 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces

2-3 medium onions chopped

2 red sweet peppers, seeded and chopped

2-3 tomatoes, seeded and diced

3-4 cloves garlic, sliced

3 bay leaves

1 tsp dried basil

2-3 dried basil leaves

8 peppercorns

Place all veggies and herbs in a large stockpot and fill with water, about 6-7 quarts.

Bring to a boil.

Cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 2 hours.

Remove cover and continue simmering for 4-6 hours.

You could also do this in the crock pot.  

Cover for the first 2 hours on high, then lift the lid with knives laid across the top, 

and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

After the vegetables have cooked and the liquid reduced down, remove the bay and whole basil leaves,
then puree the mixture in your blender until smooth.

Strain through a wire mesh strainer.  Reserve the solids.  You can strain it again through cheese cloth if you want a thinner consistency.  I liked mine with a slight texture, so I only strained it once.

This is what I strained off.  I put it in the fridge in a sealed container to use when I make my garden breadsticks.

Ladle into prepared jars.  I know these are sweet potatoes, but I forgot to take a picture of the stock in the pressure canner.  Make sure the jars are covered with water and pressure at 10 lbs of pressure 30 minutes for pints, 35 minutes for quarts.  I'm using my Presto Pressure canner.  You can find them on my sidebar. 

 Let the pressure drop naturally.  Remove from canner and let sit for 24 hours on the counter.

Beautiful.

I scored with about 2 cups of stock left over that I didn't bottle.  I wanted to try it in my Artisan Bread.  I substituted 2 cups stock for water in the recipe and added 1 cup water to bring it to 3 cups liquid.  The bread was super moist and super yummy.  I like the slight orange-y tint to the bread, and the kids had no idea I snuck a whole bunch of veggies into their bread.  Love it!

 I just finished my piece of bread for lunch today.  I think it's almost better the second day.  Yummm...

Tomorrow it's sweet potatoes.  Be sure to come back!

Super-de-dooper Easy Jalapeno Jelly

It was another week at Market on the Move.  

This time I scored big time because there was no limit.  

I think I truly came home with 60 lbs of produce for only $10.  

One box was so heavy with sweet potatoes and honeydew that I had to have help carrying it, 

no thanks to my injured elbow.  

I really need to have that looked at.

Any-who, I got this recipe from Shar's.  It was at their Holiday Gifts class.  

I guess you could make this to give away, 

but once in a while it's nice to be selfish.  

I would be happy to share this jelly at a dinner party, but keep most of it for me!  

Well my husband too, if he asks nicely. ;)

I'm a baby when it comes to hot and spicy things.  

I've actually never bought a jalapeno before.  

Ever.  

But after trying this yummy jelly, I'm sold.  

Plus this recipe is super easy.  

No Steam or Boiling water canner.  No pressure canner.

All you need is a blender and a stock pot.  That's it.

And you can whip up a batch in about 20 minutes.  

Of course you'll have to wait 24 hours for it to set and seal, 

but for minimal work, 

you get something yummy and definitely a little different.

 Jalapeno Jelly

Gather your vegetables.  The color of the peppers doesn't matter.  

Since I only got Orange and Red, that's what I used, 

but green would be fabulous too and if you're allergic to the dyes in food coloring, use all green.

Wash, seed, and chop 3-4 bell peppers.

Next put gloves on.

I'm serious.

Put Gloves On!

To cut and seed the jalapenos, you need to wear gloves otherwise you'll have 1st degree burns on your hands.

My brain went out the window during clean up and I took them off.

Big mistake!  I only got a little bit on my right hand, 

but it burned and throbbed for the rest of the night.

SO... please please please - put gloves on when you are handling the Jalapenos.

You will need 6-10 jalapenos.

Remove the stems and use your thumb to push out the center seeds and veins.  

Immediately put in trash so no one accidentally touches them.

Now put the peppers and jalapenos in the blender and blend until well chopped.

Then add:

 1 cup cider vinegar

1/2 tsp butter

1 package of pectin

Blend well until desired consistency.  I left mine on high for 2-3 minutes.

Prepare jars.  This batch makes 3 1/2 pints of jelly.

Measure out 5 cups of sugar and set aside.

Pour the pepper/jalapeno mixture in a stock pot and bring to a full boil.

Boil for 1 minute.

Add sugar all at once and stir to mix.  Return to a full boil and  boil for 1 minute more.

Remove from heat.

Add green food coloring, one drop at a time until desired color.  I went a little heavy, about 10 drops.

If you're allergic to dyes, leave this step out.

Prepare lids in hot water in a sauce pan.

Ladle jelly into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

Attach lids and rings and tighten.

Place jars upside down on a wire rack for about 1-2 hours.

Turn jars right side up and let sit for 24 hours.

Lable with date and DONE!

Easy peasy!

This jelly is scrumptious over cream cheese with crackers.

I'm canning a bunch more things this week.  Be sure to come back for the how-to's for sweet potatoes, grapefruit juice, vegetable stock, and tomato sauce.  

Let me just say... my house smells FABULOUS this week!

Just a side note:

If you add 1/2 a can of crushed pineapple to the recipe it makes a fabulous 

sweet and sour sauce!

A Pretty Pendant

 I wanted to make something special for my Sisters and Mom for Christmas this year, but I didn't have much to spend.  I scored big time with these pendants from PickYourPlum a few months ago and I've been hanging on to them until I figured out how I wanted to finish them.

I love making all things pretty, and when I get out my jewelry making supplies, the kids always want to join me.

Good times.

This project takes a few days for the Gel Medium to dry so if you plan on making some, set aside 2-3 days.  But after that, maybe 30 minutes total. 

 Easy.  Quick.

Above is the images I made in Photoshop for all the girls in my family.  

I just printed them out on cardstock.  

I believe they print to a 1 inch square size.

Next, get your supplies.  I'm using Mod Podge to stick the paper to the pendant.

Then Glossy Accents to create the gel covering over the pendant.  

It dries hard like a stone and makes the Monogram stand out beautifully.

There are two styles of pendants.  I cut the monograms to fit the oval pendant shape.

Next use the Mod Podge to glue the paper down.  Let dry completely.

When that is done use the Glossy Accent to fill in the space.  Do not shake the bottle.  

Bubbles are not your friend!

Start in the center and spiral the gel towards the outer edge trying to keep things even and smooth.

Inevitably there will be bubbles, so use a straight pin to poke them.

 Continue with all the pendants.  Make sure they lay flat to dry.  

That's why there is paper towel under a few of them because the top loop prevents the pendant from laying flat.  Put them in a super safe out of the way place.  

Mine went on the shelf at the top of my closet.  Let them sit for 24 hours. 

 The gel will dry clear.  I added another coat to the deeper pendants.  

Again let dry for 24 hours.

 Now it's time to assemble them.  

I used beading wire to create the strands of beads and added the charm at the end of the long one.  

You can't tell in this photo, but the charm says Love.  

Simple.  

Elegant.

 Here's what it looks like on.

Pretty.

{H} if you are reading this, yours is in the mail.  I promise! ;)

PS.. I just got featured at Beyond the Picket Fence.  I'm so excited!

January 3 - Camping Already?

I know. I should be doing a best of 2012 post right now.

I will.  Just not yet. 

 I'm too excited for this project.

I have a Scoutmaster, an Eagle Scout, and 2 Boy Scouts in my house right 

now so Camping is a normal thing for us.  

Unfortunately the rules are changing for the Arizona Forests.  

No more car camping wherever you want. No more driving off the road to find a good spot.  

You only have 2 choices.

Camp where there is an established camping space in a campground, 

or hike in to where you want to go.

My boys will doing a bunch more hiking in the future 

and I wanted to make each of them a hammock that they can take with them.  

Update 6-2-2013:  These were an epic fail on my boy's 50 mile scout camp this last week.  They tested the hammocks many times before and the grommets pulled through the fabric.  So I folded over the top of the hammock and stitched it down to make a sleeve.  These held up only slightly better.  So really, keep reading to find out about my epic fail. Spend the money and buy one at the store. :(

Hammocks are lightweight and easy to pack and you don't need to bring a tent or pad.  

We looked at the ones on Amazon and decided I could make one for cheaper.  

I did for much, much cheaper.

Some of the fabric came from my SAS fabric trip recently.  

It's fabulous and I only paid $2.50 a yard.  

Better than I would have gotten with a 40% off coupon at my normal fabric store. 

 Since my boys are different heights, there are 3 different lengths of the hammocks.  

The average being 2 1/2 yards.  

My husband got 3 yards, and my youngest got 2 1/4 yards.  

They are super easy to put together, and probably a must have for your preparedness stash.  

Let me show you how.

First lay out your fabric and cut to length. I have 4.

One is 3 yards.

Two are 2 1/2 yards.

And one is 2 1/4 yards.

I'm using a heavy duty rip-stop nylon fabric you can find in the Utility Fabric section.

Hem all sides of the piece of fabric with a simple rolled hem.  I used a heavy upolstery thread.

I didn't want all the bulk at the end, nor did I want a sleeve to thread the rope through.  

Also the boys didn't want to have a stick at the ends to keep it open and flat.  

So I created pleats at each end, folding over the fabric in 2 large pleats per side.  Pin in place and stitch down.

 Now add grommets to the ends.  There are 4 per side.

Hammer in place according to Manufacterers instructions.

Place them about 1 inch from the edge to give it stability and strength.

Thread the rope through the grommets and hang between 2 trees.

Nice place for a nap my little Eagle Scout!

Now he wants me to hang it in his room for him to sleep in.

I'm not sure that will happen, but it's fun to dream about.

2013 will be the year I focus more on Preparedness.

Please come back often and I'll share what I'm learning and the simple projects we can do to help prepare our families for the unknown future.

I'm super excited about getting my garden going and my own espalier'ed orchard in my tiny back yard.

Be sure to check back to see what I mean about Espalier.  

It's super cool for those of us with tiny urban back yards.